Hoodlum
A young mercenary-tribal hailing from the infamous Badlanders tribe, Hoodlum is a somewhat renowned gun for hire and adventurer who has wandered the wastes since his fifteenth birthday. He will not rest until he has become the legend of the wastes he has always aspired to become, and will kill anyone, or anything that will bring him closer to that dream, especially if there's caps involved. History A Legend is Born Born to the Rio Grande Pack during the annul migration to the Corpse Coast, Hoodlum grew up nameless and was trained to be a warrior of the pack since the day he could walk. For twelve years he did various odd jobs, from helping the tribes old timers manage equipment, to scavenging through ruins and hunting wild animals. He quickly established himself as a 'go getter' in the tribe, always eager to join the older children and adults in hunting parties and never shirking his chores when it came to weapon and armor maintenance. The Hunters Rite As with any Badlander, even in the 'civilized' Rio Grande Pack, Hoodlum earned the right to his name and manhood during his Hunters Rite. His target for the Rite was the infamous Hugo Reed, a big time slaver and ganger who was part of the Annaville Reds in the Corpse Coast. The young Badlander was only thirteen years old, armed with only a combat knife and a rickety, failure-prone, hand flamer. The young tribal managed to sneak his way into Hugo Reed's warehouse, where slaves were processed and sold, through the feral ghoul and Rad-roach infested sewers. Upon his arrival, Hoodlum formulated his plan. It was noon, and the warehouse was bustling with slaves and slavers, not to mention Hugo's small army of armed thugs who kept watch over the entire facility. Hoodlum decided the best way to get to the target was to cause a 'distraction'. Hoodlum darted from the shadows, and proceeded to open fire on the crowds of slaves and potential slave owners with his hand flamer. The resultant blaze certainly stirred things up, and in the smoke and chaos, the young Badlander found his mark, and rammed his knife up to the hilt into his back. Before Hugo Reed could even fully expire, Hoodlum had carved off his face, and was making his way out of the burning wherehouse when he was blocked by two Guards. As the Guards bled out from their resultant knife wounds, one grunted his last words as, "No, not like this, gutted by some...hoodlum." Upon his return, Hoodlum decided he rather liked the name, and thus he was reborn. No longer was he a child, he was a man, he was Hoodlum. To this day he wears Hugo Reed's dried and shrivled face over his belt buckle, the first of many lucky charms. The Journey Begins Hoodlum would later leave his Pack three years after his Hunters Rite, due to his wanderlust and need for adreniline packed adventure. (or so he says, it is just as likely that the Packs elders considered Hoodlums thrill-seeking dangerous and bad for buisness, so much so that he was banished) It is said by Hoodlum that the entire Pack saw him off in a large celebration, chanting his name and wishing him luck on his journey to become a ledgend. (though again it is just as likely that they uncermoniously cast him out) His only momento from his home, besides the mask he wears and the shrunken face of his first contract kill, is a rusty old Nuka Cola bottle cap, the very first he ever earned. A Little Thing Hoodlum would work his way up from the Corpse Coast, acting as a hired gun to various caravaners and travlers going west. Eventually, Hoodlum ended up in an area known as the Sweetsteppes, where he fell in with a local band of raiders who usually came about and picked off stray locals for their gear. Hoodlum, using the business savvy taught to him by his Pack, took control of the raiders and turned them into a very profitable slaver crew. With contacts within the Corpse Coast, Hoodlum eventually set up a brutally efficant slaving chain, eventually focusing on the female-dominated WASPS, due to the never ending demand of fit young women in the slaving market. Thus his slaver gang, known as 'The Hoodlums', became reviled by the WASPS, and even gained some mercenary jobs under the Scraphounds, constantly dealing damage to the WASPS. The young Badlander gained quite a bit of wealth and infamy, and enjoyed his status as a slaver lord for well over three years. However, one day would see that all change. A little girl wandered into the Sweetsteppes, alone, tired, and nearly dead from fatuige. A squad patrolling of WASPS, always shorthanded, tryed to kidnap the girl and press her into their ranks. To this little girls dubious luck, the Hoodlums had been stalking the WASPS for some time that day, and with the little girl acting as a distraction, sprung their trap. Leaping from the rubble and capturing the women with a net gun, the WASPS and the child were dragged to the Hoodlums slaver camp in the turbine fields. While the WASPS were picked over and ravaged by the slavers, the child was dragged to the foot of Hoodlum's throne, as children were considered "special merchendise" due to their potental worth, and thus their fate was to be decided by the leader of the Hoodlums. At first, Hoodlum considered shipping the little girl off to a group of cannibals out west that he had done business with before but he became interested in her when he was told offhandedly by his thugs that this child had apperently wandered into town all on her own. Hoodlum asked the girls name, and she weakly replied, "Lucy Littlething". After a breif conversation, Hoodlum declaired that the little girl would become the gangs local greese monkey, after a considerable display of her skills when she fixed up an old motercycle that Hoodlum had never managed to get working himself. Within a few months, Lucy had become Hoodlum's personal mechanic and, to some extent, friend. He treated the little girl well and endluged her 'bookworm' habits. But there was growing unrest within the Hoodlums, members of the gang had grown tired of their leaders flashy behavior and some saw his firendship with the child as evidance that he had grown soft. A muntiy was staged, and after a quick and bloody shootout, Hoodlum was trapped in the gangs garrage, certain to be overrun and killed, his asperations cut short by ingrate thugs. That was until, Lucy, shouldering a sackfull of grenades and carrying the key to his Motorcycle, came to his rescue. Together, the two escaped and rode off to greener pastures, leaving the raiders to form under a new leader and rename the slaver band "The Pillagers". Lucy and Hoodlum would travle together for about a year before they finally went their seperate ways, Hoodlum leaving the girl in the fairly stable NCR border town known as Dall's Hope. The Badlander, having had too many close calls himself, believed that Lucy deserved a better life than what he could provide her, and, with a somewhat emotional goodbye, rode off into the wastes, a mechanics studies merit badge pinned to his belt. Another lucky charm that he would never part with. Dead Bodies in the Water Eventually ending up in Louisiana, Hoodlum would come under the employ of the excenteric wasteland explorer, Hogarth G. Nash, and find himself waist deep in the bayous and swamps of the Louisiana backcountry. Deep in Swamper country, Nash's expidition was quickly assailed by the inbred, semi-mutated locals. Much of the expidtions personell was either killed or deserted within the first week, those who remained were either too foolish or had too much to lose. Hoodlum, meanwhile fell under a different catagory, he took this particular job because he knew that not only was the pay good, but the fights ahead would only lead to cement his ledgend... if anyone but him managed to stagger out of the swamps by the end of this venture. The Hogarth expidition was eventually down to no less than twelve members when Hoodlum, succumbing to a mutated strain of malaria, and was abandoned by the rest of the now shell shocked expidition. Determined to die like a ledgend, Hoodlum limped his way into a Swamper village and began slinging lead, bringing down eighteen of the tribals, including the cheiften, before they dragged him down. As he lay there, beaten and bloodied, some swamp mutant readying rusty fire ax to lop his head off, a hail of bullets and explosions roared through the settlement. Hoodlum was greeted by familiar mask-wearing warriors, and rushed to the main body of the Louisiana Pack where they treated his malaria and wounds. Hoodlum would later lead the warriors of the Louisiana Pack to the remains of the Hogarth Expidition and rescue the expiditionarys and lead the survivors, including a grateful Hogarth G. Nash, to safety of the Big Easy. In the end, Hoodlum and the Louisiana Pack would make a tidy sum of caps for their timely intervention, and Hoodlum began a lucritive career as a bouncer in the Big Easy's bars and cathouses while his wounds healed up. The only momento Hoodlum has of the expidition and his subsiquent stay in the Big Easy is the gnarled hand of the Swamper cheiften he butchered, which hangs, dried and shrivled, from a simple chain necklace that Hoodlum rarely removes from his person. Skills and Abilities Raised in the infamous Rio Grande Pack, Hoodlum was taught all the skills every professional killer and survivalist needs to know and more. It is hardly surprising that Hoodlum is proficent in the use of pratically any conventional weapon. (firearms, melee weapons, explosives, and bare hands) His survivalist training also includes jury rigging weaponary and traps, making complex repairs, and general medicine, as well as hunting and safely preparing wasteland flora and fanuna. Hoodlum was also trained thuroughly in wasteland "economics" and can barter his way into a lucritive contract with relative ease. This is also a result of his natural charm, intimidating apperance, and general wit, allowing him to talk his way out of (or into) certain situations. Hoodlum's tribal upbringing has ensured that by this stage in his life his body is hardend to the harsh wasteland, and is noted to be tougher and stronger than the average wastelander. In spite of his various skills and easily applied wasteland knowlege, Hoodlum has little to no grasp of matters beyond his rather pratcial education. Subjects such as advanced science and mathamatics are completely alien to him. And, while he can easily handle advanced pre-war weapons, his understandings of their workings and how to repair them are pitifully inadiquite. Hoodlums loud and glory seeking behavior also means that he lacks stealth abilites and, some would say, common sence. He can pick simple locks however, and is capable of keeping his head down for an ambush, but don't expect him to infiltrate a bunker when shooting his way through is much easier. (and entertaining) Gear Hoodlum is a very dangerous individual, and considerably well armed to boot, and thus is more than ready for the hazards of the wasteland. Boom and Bewm A pair of sawn-off shotguns with finely polished mahogany grips and black painted barrles, Boom and Bewm are Hoodlums most conspicous weapons and by far his most frequently used. Boom and Bewm are quite powerful and can be loaded with either shot or slugs, and can easily bring down most threats encountered in the wasteland. Hoodlum wears them in a pair of custom made holsters that hang at his waist, and he can draw them with blistering speed. (and fire them even faster as aiming is often a non-issue at standoff range) Little Thing An anceint, WW1 Mauser Machine Pistol that was discovered by Lucy Littlething and gifted to Hoodlum, Little Thing is by far one of Hoodlums most treasured weapons. Lucy fixed the gun up, but Hoodlum later found an expert gunsmith to add a silver inlay and inscribe his little freinds last name on the weapon. In addtion to it's black paint and polished wooden grip, Little Thing has also had its bore incresed to carry 10. millimeter rounds and this, coupled with its extended fifteen bullet mag and fully automatic fire, can make it very deadly in any firefight. Hoodlum wears the weapon at the small of his back, and is his fallback weapon in combat. Explosives Hoodlum always keeps a pair of hand grenades and a stick of dynamite on his person. (usually to deal with entrenched foes or troublesome doors) The Devil's Toothpick The Devil's Toothpick is a large Shishkebab that Hoodlum put together himself during his stint as the slaver lord of the Sweetsteppes, mostly from spare parts as he tried desperately to scrap together a working motorcycle. It is noted to have a razor sharp blade and a dark crimson flame, and the gas tank attatched has undergone a large amount of decal painting and talley marking by Hoodlum. The Devil's Toothpick is a deadly and awe inspiring weapon, and Hoodlum weilds it with a brutal mix of skill and savagery, having developed his own fighting style with it. PipBoy 3000 Taken from the corpse of a Willy Greel, Hoodlum uses this well worn and occassionally glitchy PipBoy to map out routes to destinations and targets, as well as keep an inventory on his stocks of ammo and the condition of his weapons. Its V.A.T.S targeting system was damaged years before Hoodlum tore it from its previous owners cold, dead hands, and he has yet to find anyone who can repair it. In short, it has become a very expensive notepad. Hoodie Hoodlum wears his signature hoodie over a vest of leather armor to provide him with minimal protection against the elements and the occassional bullet. In addition to this attire, he also wears a pair of worn, black combat boots, black baggy jeans, and a pair of spiked leather gloves. Ironsides Hoodlums personal motorcycle and his most valuble possession, Ironsides gets him across the wasteland at his prefered breakneck speed and can make him a terror to anyone with a bounty on their head. With scrap armor protecting much of its frame and engine, and a pair of 10. Millimeter SMGs mounted on the front, Ironsides is a deadly mount befiting Hoodlums goal of wasteland fame and fortune. For what is a great warrior without a faithful steed? That being said, what Hoodlum dosen't spend on chems, booze, ammo, and women, all gose to keeping Ironsides in tip top condition. (this includes gas, motor oil, spare parts, tires, and much, much more) Personality In spite of his vast array of skills, Hoodlum is still farily young, and lacks one key thing that keeps most people alive in the wasteland, experience. He is prone to taking risks and acting from gut instincts. (which are, at their best, mildy destructive) Some say it is only his quick thinking and raw luck that has kept him alive. Hoodlum is full of machoistic bravado, and will rarely back down from a fight, even if the odds are against him. He is however, somewhat of a practical thinker, and won't take on a gang of raiders without some raw form of a plan. (even if that plan amounts to blowing up something important as a distraction) Hoodlum could be considered evil very easliy if one were to look at his past, from casual murder, robbery, and theft, to political assassination, arson, and slave trading, Hoodlum has trod on the rights of his fellow man for a living for most of his young life. However, Hoodlum has also done his fair share of considerably good deeds, from sheltering and protecting a little girl to defending a small farming community from raiders, free of charge. (though in retrospect, he may have only done those things because the benifit him) Hoodlum, while often acting the scoundrel he is, has a much darker side that is considered the result of a combined inferiority complex and anger management issue. Whenever his tribal heretige or reputation is insulted, he will lash out with unspeakable ferocity, goring and maiming those responsible in brutal ways. He has rarely been able to hold himself back from these semi-psychotic episodes of rage and it is considered exremely unwise to insult him because of this. Relations Qoutes By About Category:Characters Category:T42